Black Dawn
Mallory McCartney
ebook, 231 pages
Published February 14th 2017
Clean Reads Publishing
3.7 Stars
Summary
The end of an Empire, The rise of a Queen Emory Fae enjoys leading a quiet, normal life. That is until two mysterious, and handsome soldiers show up at her apartment, and the life she knew is instantly whisked away. Memphis Carter and Brokk Foster come from the magical and war ridden world of Kiero, and upon Emory's arrival she will discover she is the long lost heir to the Royal Line and is thrown into the Black Dawn Rebellion with a dynamic role to ignite the rebels and reclaim her throne. With both men being darkly woven in her past Emory uncovers hidden secrets, a power held long dormant, and will soon realize there are worse things than supernatural humans, love, loss, betrayal, and a Mad King. Some things are better left in the shadows.
Personal Thoughts
”To have lost everything but have hope to rebuild the future is the strongest weapon in the world.”
I want to give the biggest thank you for Mallory for sending me a copy of Black Dawn. I am grateful and ecstatic! It was a real delight to discover your fantasy world! She is amazing and very kind. Her hair is goals and have she has some epic tattoos! Also, I am a bit biased since she is Canadian!
Before I break down the novel, I want to give my quick rapid thoughts. This novel was super-fast. I thought I went to crossed the street and a car drove by almost knocking off my feet. It was fascinating and refreshing! Yet, I had no idea what was happening in certain parts of the book. I loved the magic, the world and the characters. The cover is inspired for the book. I think the rose burning really portrayed the meaning of the end of a reign, to a new beginning. All the lies, loss, love and betrayals throughout the novel. I adore the fundamentals of fantasy, fairy-tale, of an X-Men and Mortal Instruments. I really thought it was authentic and refreshing for a Young adult novel.
Black Dawn starts off in multiple perspectives, rapid fire three different people in the first three chapters and throughout the book we get to see even more perspectives, with random chapters thrown in from Nyx and Adair. Fans of high-fantasy and science fiction are going to love having the multiple perspectives. I am really used to science fiction/fantasy having a slow pace to build the world and characters. I think for myself, I preferred two perspectives. I thought the voices blended together which made it difficult as a reader, to read. The rebellion is on the verge of collapse, the rebels and the villains have special powers, sounds incredible. But not enough history is introduced again, the pacing is too quick, I had a hard time at the beginning of the novel. I felt the characters did not have a chance to play in the world. I think the world is vast and growing, and there something missing. I don’t know what but there is a gap. Still, I think overall the novel was entertaining.
The characters are outstanding. I thought they really grew throughout novel. I even love the side characters. The history of Emory, Brokk and Memphis and Adair are childhood friends, grew up with the academy since Emory's parents designed and created the academy. Each character is full of secret, betrayal, and loss. They love each other. Even our villain Adair. Adair is a different character, he seeks and envisions power. He wants control. He wants Emory to be by his side. When he murders Emory's parents and Emory begs Memphis and Brokk to send her away. They whisk her to earth to live and blend in the world to conceal her abilities. Brokk and Memphis go back to fight for the academy and those with the abilities to grow and control their power. 6 years passed, and with the downfall of the rebellion and not defeating Adair, Memphis and Brokk decide to bring her back to be the saviour of Black Dawn and Kerio and defeat Adair.
Emory
Emory Fae is the last living heir of the Fae family and is presumed dead. Everyone believes she had died when Adair attacked the academy. She was smuggled to Earth to be conceal from Adair and her memories tampered with to forget about the world. Now, she wants to gain back her powers to fight for Black Dawn and rightful heir to the throne. She has flaw and faults. She is brave, adaptable and bold.
Brokk
I love Brokk!! He is precious and amazing. I like the side of Brokk with his shifting ability and to control the time that can travel to other dimensions. I was rooting for Brokk! I loved reading his perspective. He's unique and a huge important piece to war-ridden world and to Emory. I was confused in the beginning to what Brokk's purpose is to the book other than having epic abilities and being close to Memphis and Emory. Now, all I want to do is grab Brokk and surround him with a ton of fluffy pillows and blankets - he needs a lot of hugs and love!
Memphis
I need to get this off my chest. I tried so hard to like this character. He amazing. I get it, beautiful, epic and has wicked telekinesis powers. He’s drop dead gorgeous. He's just.... sometimes, an idiot. I swear half the time I am rolling my eyes. He does things WRONG when he trying to be RIGHT. Its sometimes wrong and arrogant. The way he treated Nyx… That was hard to read through. I did not like how the relationship was. I understand the course of actions that took place with the relationship, however, I still think it was wrong especially when Emory came to Black Dawn. I get that is a history between the two of them. Yet, he did not need to forget about Nyx or treat her like everything was her fault. Then the way he treated Emory. I felt he was too giddy and cute, just trying to work the rocky relationship than teaching her to use her abilities and the knowledge of Kerio. Or how he just throws Emory into pit without gear. I see potential with Memphis, he is a likeable character, but he has a lot of growing to do.
Overall, I think that the pacing, the descriptions and characters need diving deeper into the world would make it a more excellent read. Other than that, I can't wait to see and read the next 2nd book. I really, really, enjoyed this novel. I think Black Dawn is worth to read. I think fantasy readers are going to love this book!
What ability would you like to have on Kerio ? Comment Below !
Signing out, Maddi Clark
About the Author Mallory McCartney
Mallory McCartney currently lives in London, Ontario with her husband and their two dachshunds Link and Lola. Black Dawn is her debut novel, the first in a series. When she isn’t working on her next novel or reading, she can be found dog grooming, book shopping and hiking. Other favorite pastimes involve reorganizing perpetually overflowing bookshelves and seeking out new coffee and dessert shops ( last page in ebook)
Instagram - @authormalmccartney
Twitter - @MalMcCartney